Sleigh



April 22, 1924. 1,492,378

. M. KRYSAK SLEIGH Filed MarCh 8. 19?? A @51a if Patented pr. 29, 1924.

STATES MIKE KRYSAK, OF HAFFORD, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA.

SYLEIG-H.

Application led March 8, 1922.

Toy all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, Minn` KnYsiiK, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada,residing at Haford, in the province of Saskatchewan and Dominion ofCanada, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Sleighs, ofwhich the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to certain new and usefulimprovements in sleighsand has particular reference to a sleigh of the moto-r driven typewherein a source of power such as a gas, electric or other motor ismounted upon the sleigh to effect forward propulsion thereof.

A primary object of the invention resides in the pro-vision of a sleighwith motor driven means wherein the propeller driven by the motor isshiftably mounted to vary the position thereof with respect to thelongitudinal axis of the sleigh to facilitate the steering or guiding ofthe sleigh during forward travel thereof.

With the abo-ve general objects in view and others that will appear asthe nature of the invention is better understood the same consists ofthe novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter morefully described, shown in the accompanying draw ing and claimed.

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure l is a fragmentary side elevational view of a motor driven sleighconstructed in accordance with the present invention,

Figure 2 is a top plan view, partly broken away showing the propellerlaterally shifted to a dotted line position to effect the steering ofthe sleigh,

Figure 8 is a fragmentary side elevational view partly in section of themechanism for shifting the propeller, and

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view taken on line lV-V of Fig. 8 showingthe manner of holding the propeller in its adjusted position.

Referring more in detail to the accompanying drawing there isillustrated a sleigh embodying runners 1 and a. superposed platform 2,upon which platform a base plate 3 carrying a motor 4 is mounted, themotor including a power shaft 5 having' a bevel gear 6 secured to theforward projecting end thereof. y

An angle bracket including a perpendicu- Serial No. 542,070.

lar leg 7 and an upper rearwardly directed' y leg 7 cooperating with theleg 8 to form a journal bearing for the' vertical shaft 10 as clearlyshown in Figs. 1 and 2. A bevel gear 11 is secured to the shaft 10`beneath ythey arm 9 andis in constant mesh with the bevel gear 6 uponthe motor' shaft 5.

A lever bar 12 having a handle portion 13 is journaled upon the upperend of the shaft 10 above the bracket leg 8, the lever 12 adjacent theshaft 10 and rforwardly thereof carrying an inverted U-shaped frameembodying side arms 14 and 15 and a connecting cross head 16, a shaft 17being journaled in the side arms 14 and 15` and carrying a propeller 18.lThe driving connection between the shafts 10 and 17 includes a bevelgear 19 secured to the shaft 10 intermediate the leg 8 and the lever 12that is adapted to mesh with the bevel gear 20 splined upon the shaft17, the engagement between the 'gears 19, 2O being maintained by thecoil spring'21 supported on the shaft 17 between the frame arm 15 andsaid gear 20. To contro-l the engagement between the gears 19 and 20, alever 22 pvoted between lugs 23 carried by the cross head 16 of theframe arms 14 and 15, extends through an opening 24 in the cross headwith the' lower forked end thereof straddling the groove collar 20 ofthe gear 20, the lever 22 carrying an operating` handle 25 to effectmovement thereof for controlling the meshing of said gears.

To effect the steering of the sleigh and for holding the propeller andthe frame lever 12 in the adjusted angular position with respect to thelongitudinal axis of the sleigh as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2,an arcuate rack bar 26 formed concentric with the shaft 10 is carried bythe rear end of the bracket leg 8. A perpendicular tubular projection 27is carried by the frame lever 12 above the arcuate rack bar 26 andencloses a plunger rod 28 tensioned as at 29 to move the lower endthereof into engagement with the rack bar as shown in Figs. 8 and 4,disengagement of the plunger rod 18 from the rack bar being accomplishedby the lever 80 pivoted to the brackets 81 carried by the tubularprojection 27 with the forward end thereof having a pin and slotconnection 32 with the upper end of theplunger rod 28,

BRO

It will therefore be seen that upon operating the lever the plunger rod2S is disengaged from the rack bar 26 and the lever handle 13 may beemployed for shifting the lever 12 upon the shaft 10 with the levercarrying the propeller shaft 17 and the gear 20 about the vertical axisof the shaft 10, disposing the propeller 18 at the desired angle withrelation to the longitudinal axis of the sleigh.

It willV therefore be seen that the forward propulsion of the sleigh iscaused by the motor 4 operating the propellerV 18 while the steering orguiding movement thereof is accomplished by the lever shift of thepropeller through the medium of the frame lever 12 supporting thepropeller and shaft 17. The connection between the motor and propelleris controlled by the fork lever 22 cooperating with the gear 20 to movethe same against the tension of the spring 21 to control the engagementbetween the gears V19 and 20. It will be apparent that the `shaft 10with the beveled gears 11 and 19 will at'all times be operativelyconnected with the motor shaft 5 through the beveled gear 6. Therefore,the only additional load placed upon the motor, at the time of startingthe propulsion of the sleigh, is the additional resistance of thecomparatively short shaft 17, propeller 18, and beveled Vgear 20. Thisload is easily handled by the coil spring 21, which is automatic in itsclutch actuating operation upon releasing the pull upon the rod 25. Itwill readily be seen that a great advantage will be derived from thisconstruction as a much lighter clutching mechanismV can be employed thanwould be necessary in a'construction wherein the disconnecting point waslocated near the source of power and practically the entire drivingmechanism was added to the load of the motor at the time of placing thesleigh into forward motion.

Y lVhile there is herein shown and described the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that minorchanges may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention.

What is claimedl as new is In a device of the class described, aplatform, a propeller, a bracket mounted upon said platform, ahorizontal leg extending from said bracket, an arcuate rack bar carriedby the rearward end of said leg, a lever bar pivotally disposedthereabove, said lever bar constituting a combined mounting and steeringmeans for the propeller, a tubular projection carried by said lever bar,a plunger rod passing therethrough, said plunger lrod cooperating withsaid arcuate bar for providing a means for holding the propeller inadjusted angular positions, a motor, and driving connection between themotor and propeller.

In testimony whereof I aiX my signature.

` MIKE KRYSAK.

